I’m Back (Sort Of) — And I’m Running a 10K
Updates
Hi everyone,
It’s been quiet here on Fletchucation for a while, and I wanted to explain why, and share something else I’m working on.
The main reason for the silence: I’ve been deep in a new book project. I can’t share details yet, but it’s been eating most of my writing time and energy. More on that soon, I promise, when I’m actually allowed to talk about it.
In the meantime, I’ve taken on something a bit different. This October, I’m running my first ever 10K at the Munich Marathon. I’m not a runner. I’m currently 8-10kg heavier than I’d like to be, and I’ve never raced anything in my life. But I’m doing it for Room to Read.
Room to Read works across Asia and Africa, partnering with local communities, schools and governments rather than just dropping off books and leaving. Their work splits into two parts. The first is literacy: turning primary schools into places where kids actually learn to read, by building libraries stocked with books in children’s own languages, and training teachers and librarians in how to teach reading well. The second is girls’ education: supporting girls through secondary school with mentorship, life skills, and family and community engagement, since that’s the stage where girls are most likely to drop out.
Check out this incredible video that they created to showcase some of the work they do:
She Creates Change on YouTube
Read More: Room to Read Website
As an English teacher, and as a father to a daughter, this one hits close to home. Nearly 740 million adults worldwide still can’t read or write, and two-thirds of them are women. That’s not an abstract statistic to me, it’s the whole reason I do what I do for a living.
If you’d like to support the run, or just enjoy watching a reluctant runner suffer his way toward 10 kilometres, my donation page is here: Just Giving
I’ll be posting training updates here as I go, alongside whatever I can eventually share about the book. Thanks for sticking around.
More soon,
Matt